Variable-speed drive control for spinning frames



INVENToR. JOHN ffy/CAME and BY. R41/L 5. RHI/IJ,

' ATTOHNEK Oct. 16, 1951 J s.fMlcH|E ErAL VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVE CONTROL FOR SPINNING FRAMES Filed NOV. 12, 1949 Patented Oct. 16, 1951 VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVE CONTROL FOR SPINNING FRAMES John S. Michie and Paul Bl Reeves, Columbus,

Indi, assignors to Reeves Pulley Company, Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application November 12, 1949, Serial No. 126,862

J 3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to variable speed drive control assemblies, primarily for transmitting power, at stepless variable speed ratios, to spinning frames, or like machines; and the primary object of the invention is to provide an assembly so constructed, designed and arranged as to be associable, readily, with any one of a plurality of conventional spinning frames, or the like, in a convenient manner which shall be conservative of space. A further object of the invention is to provide an assembly of the character suggested in which the adjusting means for the assembly shall not project into aisleways, where it might accidentally be shifted by passing persons or objects, but shall be so located that, while it is readily accessible for actuation by an authorized operator, it Iwill be completely protected against unauthorized, accidental shifting. Further objects of the invention will -appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, our invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of an -assembly constructed in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, parts being shown in section, and showing our assembly in operative association with a driving motor and a machine to be driven;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the assembly of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective of the trunnion element preferably used in the preferred embodiment of our invention; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the positively actuated pulley incorporated in the illustrated embodiment of our invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that we have illustrated, in dotted lines, an electric motor I@ and the main shaft I I of a machine I2 which may be a spinning frame. In 'accordance with standard practice, the shaft II projects a substantial distance from the end of the frame, being supported, in this instance, by an outboard bearing I I.

In spinning mills, it is customary to arrange the frames in series and ranks, with relatively narrow aisles between adjacent frames, and for that reason, it is undesirable to arrange driving means in such a fashion asto project substan- (Cl. i4-230.17)

tially beyond the free end of the shaft II. According to our present invention, a driving motor i9 for each frame may be tucked under the projection of the shaft I I, with an assembly for providing variable speed ratios bet-Ween the motor and the shaft likewise located substantially within the region of projection of said shaft.

Specifically, a bed plate I3 will be located with one end I4 closely adjacent the end of the spinning frame I2, said plate lying substantially within the region of projection of the shaft II. Adjacent said bed plate end I5, a standard I6 is suitably secured to said bed plate on one side of the median longitudinal line of said bed plate,

and preferably closely adjacent one side edge I1 of said bed plate. A base element I8 is similarly secured to the bed plate i3 near the opposite edge I9 thereof, and close to the end I5 thereof. Thus, it will be clear that the standard I6 and the base I8 are located on opposite sides of the median longitudinal line of the plate I3.

At its upper end, the standard I6 is provided with a bearing enlargement 2S in which is journalled a screw 2 I. That end 22 of the Screw which projects toward the bed plate end I5 is cylindrical, as shown, while the opposite end 23 of said screw,

projecting from the bearing enlargement 20 in the direction of the bed plate end I4, is polygonal for a reason which will appear. Said enlarged, polygonal head 23 engages one end of the bearing enlargement 20, while a set collar 24, adjust.- ably fixed to the screw 2l, engages the opposite end of said enlargement, whereby the screw 2|, while it is free for rotation about its axis, is held against axial movement relative to the standard I6.

A' trunnion element 25 is provided with a threaded bore 25 and is threadedly mounted on the screw 2|. Oppositely extending, coaxial projections 2l and 28 provide spaced, aligned trunnion surfaces on said element 25, for a purpose which will appear. I

The base I8 is provided with a bearing enlargement 29 in which is received a pin 30 having a preferably threaded portion projecting from said base toward the end I5 of the bed plate I3, A trunnion element 25', having projections 21 and 28', in all respects similar to the projections 2l and 28, is mounted on said projecting portion of the pin Sil. It will be noted that the pin 30 and the screw 2|, both parallel with the plane of the upper surface of the bed plate I3, are differently spaced therefrom; so that the plane common to the axes of said pin and said screw is inclined to the bed plate, and traverses the vertical plane in cluding said longitudinal median line of the bed plate. It is intended that the motor I shall be set on the bed plate, between the standard IB and base I8 and the spinning frame l2, with the axis of its spindle located in the line of intersection between said vertical plane including the longitudinal median line of the bed plate and the plane common to the axes of the screw 2| and pin 33.

A yoke, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3|, is preferably formed of two mating sections 32 and 33 joined by screws 34 and 35, or other equivalent fastening means. The section 32 is provided at one end with a pair of furcations 36 straddling or embracing theA trunnion-surface projection 2l of the trunnion element 25; and with a pair of urcations 31 similarly straddling the projection 2l" of the trunnion element 25'. Similarly, the yoke section 33 is provided with furcations 38 straddling the projection 28, and with furcations 39 straddling the projection 28'. Intermediate its ends, the yoke section 32 is provided with means 45, and the yoke section 33 is similarly provided with means di, establishing a pivotal connection between the yoke and a bearing 42.

An expansible V-pulley is indicated generally by the reference numeral 43, and comprises a coned disc 4d having an axially-extending hub 45 projecting in the direction in which its coned surface faces, said hub being hollow, at least at its rear end, as at 45, and being provided with a set screw 4l, or other suitable means, for securing the disc 44 to the motor spindle 48 upon which said hub is adapted to be sleeved. Said pulley further comprises a mating coned disc 49 telescopically slidably mounted on the hub 45 and provided with a rearwardly axially projecting hub i), a key 5| providing a driving connection between the hubs 45 and 50. A two-way thrust bearing 42 is sleeved on the hub 55, and is confined thereon between an outwardly-facing shoulder 5S and a snap ring 55, whereby axial movement of the bearing 42 in either direction will be transmitted to the disc 44.

Our control includes also a resiliently espansible V -pulley indicated generally by the reference numeral 52 and comprising a coned disc 53 having a hub 54 axially projecting in the direction in which the coned surface of said disc faces, said hub being hollow, at least at its free end, as at 55, so that it is adapted to be sleeved on the spinning frame shaft il; and said hub is provided vwith fastening means, such as the set screw 54 for securing the same to said shaft. A mating coned disc 55, having an axially elongated hub 57 projecting' away from its coned surface, is telescopically received on the hub 54. A coiled spring, retained in a suitable housing, cooperates with the hubs 55.1 and 5l to press the disc 55 resiliently toward the disc 53.A An edge-active belt 53 is trained over the pulleys 43 and 52 to provide a driving connection therebetween.

Preferably, abar Eil! is secured to the upper end of the standard l5 and projects therefrom in parallelism with the screw 2|, said bar carrying, on its upper surface, a graduated. scale plate 6|.

it will be clear that, when the motor lil is energized, it will drive the shaft il, through the control assembly above described, at a speed rat-io dependingr upon the current effective pitch diameters of the pulleys 133 and 52. A ratchet wrench may be applied to the polygonal head 23 of the screw 2i to rotate the Same to adjust the position o the trunnion element 25. Rotation oi the screw in one direction will shift the trunnon elei ment 25 toward the right as viewed in Fig. 2, and the upper end of the yoke 3| will be carried with the element 25 because of the engagement of the iurcations 33 and 38 with the trunnion projections 2'! and 28. Thus, the yoke 3| will be caused to swing about the axis of the projections 21' and 28 of the trunnionv element 25', in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, moving the bearing 42 toward the right tovforce the disc 49 toward the disc 44. Thereby, the belt 59 will be squeezed radially outwardly between the mating coned surfaces of said discs, and will be pulled radially inwardly between the mating faces of the discs 53 and 56, thereby causing the disc 56 t0 be moved toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, against the tendency of the spring 58. Thus, the effective diameter of the pulley 43 will be increased, the effective diameter of the pulley 52 will be decreased, and the speed of the pulley 52, and therefore of the shaft Il, will be increased. As the trunnion element 25 is so moved, its position relative to the scale 6I will be changed, and said scale may be calibrated so that the position of the element 25 relative thereto may be read in, for instance, revolutions per minute of the shaft Il.

If the screw 2| is rotated in the opposite direction, of course the block 25 will be moved toward the left, as vie-wed in Fig. 2, thus shifting the bearing 32 and the disc 49 toward the left to relieve the pressure exerted by the discs 414 and L19 against the belt 55. The spring 5B will concurrently shift the disc 55 toward the disc 53, squeezing the belt 59 radially outwardly between said discs, and pulling it more deeply between the discs 44 and 139, thereby reducing the speed ofthe shaft The canting or inclination of the yoke 32 permits the arrangement 0f the control assembly in various positions of transaxial adjustment relative to the shaft Il. If desired, one or both of the elements l5 and I8 may be laterally adjustably mounted on the bed plate i3 to vary the angle of inclination of said yoke, thereby varying the elevation of the point of intersection between the plane common to the screw 2| andthe pin 3D, and the vertical plane including the median longitudinal line of the bed plate. The particular type of connection between the kyoke ends and the trunnion elements 25 and 25' will permit such adjustment, through a limited range.

While we presently believe the particular construction of expansible V-pulleys herein disclosed to be optimum, those structural details are not essential to our invention, so lon-g as one disc of one V-pulley is under the control of the yoke 3|, and the discs of the cooperating -Vpulley are resiliently urged toward each other.

We claim as our invention:

1. A variable-speed drive control assembly for spinning frames or the like, comprising a bed plate adapted to bemounted with one end adjacent the drive end of a spinningk frame, a standard ixerlly supported adjacent the other end of said plate at one side4 of a median line thereof, and a base fixe-diy supported adjacent said other end or said plate at theV other side of said line, said plate being adapted to support an electric motor adjacent said one endl of Vsaid plate with its spindlev projecting toward said other plate end and located substantially with its axis in the vertical plane including said median line, a pin carried by said base with its axis substantially parallel with said median line, a trunnion block mounted on said pin and provided with aligned, spaced trunnion surfaces transaxially related to said pin, a yoke provided at one end with furcations straddling said trunnion surfaces, ascrew journalled in said standard upon an axis substantially parallel with said pin axis, a second trunnion blc-ck threadedly mounted on said screw and provided with aligned, spaced trunnion surfaces transaxially related to said screw, said yoke being provided at its opposite end with furcations straddling said trunnion surfaces of said second trunnion block, bearing means, said yoke, intermediate its ends, being pivotally engaged with said bearing means upon an axis parallel with said trunnion surface axes, an expansible V-pulley comprising a coned disc having a hollow hub axially elongated in the direction in which its coned surface faces, said hub being adapted to be sleeved on the spindle of such a motor, and a mating coned disc slidably telescoped on said hub and having an axially elongated hub retreating from its coned surface, said bearing means being sleeved on said last-named hub, and said lastnamed huo being provided with a shoulder facing the free end of said hub and engaged by said bearing means, a resiliently-expansible V-pulley comprising a coned disc having a hollow hub axially elongated in the direction in which its coned surface faces and adapted to be sleeved on, and

supported by, the main shaft of such spinning frame, a mating coned disc slidably telescoped on said hub, and spring means cooperating with said discs to urge the same toward each other, and an edge-active belt for providing a driving connection between said pulleys.

2. The assembly of claim 1 in which said pin axis and said screw axis are parallel with said bed plate, but are located at substantially different distances from said plate.

3. The assembly of claim 1 in which that end of said screw adjacent the position of such a motor is polygonal to facilitate rotation of said screw, the opposite end thereof being cylindrical.

JOHN S. MICHIE. PAUL B. REEVES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Perry Apr. 18, 1944 

